Insect collection and test

Abstract

Fast, safe and effective monitoring of the presence of (and / or spread of) a virus or other disease causing agent is obtained by a computer controlled test unit (1, 3) that automatically collects and tests flying insects in the environment, such as mosquitoes, for the presence of disease causing virus. Responding to bait (11) furnished in the front end (3) of the unit, mosquitoes are attracted and drawn into an air stream, generated by a fan (9), that forces the mosquitoes into a detergent solution reservoir within a chamber (17). The mosquitoes drown in the solution and the detergent solution leaches any virus carried by the mosquito from the mosquito carcass. After a suitable lapse of time necessary to collect mosquito specimens, the detergent solution is automatically pumped (19) into the automated enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ("ELISA") device portion (1) of the unit and the results of the ELISA are displayed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001] Applicant claims the benefit provided by 35 U.S.C. 120 based on copending application serial no. (TRW Docket No. 38-0010), filed concurrently herewith, entitled "Automated Computer Controlled Reporter Device for Conducting Imunnoassay and Molecular Biology Procedures".FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002] This invention relates to the public health and safety and, more particularly, to automated detection and identification of disease causing biological agents, such as virus, carried by airborne vectors found in the environment.BACKGROUND[0003] Communicable disease is egalitarian in nature, affecting rich and poor alike. Beyond the scope of an individual to handle, customarily citizens look to government to monitor the environment for outbreak of disease, to warn the citizenry of an impending epidemic and tender guidance for one to minimize the spread of any contagion to one's person or to others, provide access to vaccines that immunize the pers...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] As an advantage the invention is microprocessor controlled, effectively placing the high technical skills required for an ELISA procedure within the program of the microprocessor and eliminating the need for the operator to posses those skills. The invention may be operated and maintained by relatively unskilled personnel. Because of that advantage the invention may be widely distributed with clearly marked supplies for deployment by ordinary persons and does not impose an intervention requirement by the relatively few trained microbiologists.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately the degree of diligence with which the government pursues the foregoing effort is mixed, sometimes dulled by overconfidence and may fall short.

Many officials also supported more sophisticated (and more expensive) ways to track the spread of a virus, specifically maintaining flocks of chickens and testing the blood of the chickens regularly for the virus.

Due to budget cutbacks, perhaps coupled with overconfidence, most of those sentinel flocks have since disappeared along with the expertise required to maintain them.

To reinstate those flocks on short notice is very difficult.

Even if the sentinel flocks could be restored, the flocks might not be welcome where they are most needed.

Mosquitoes may be examined directly and laboratory techniques are available to permit the direct test of individual mosquitoes for the virus, but performing those tests is not easy.

Those techniques are not widely used because they require a level of skill typically unavailable in state and local laboratories.

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